Nakekela Cinic Update

By Dr. Sonja Miskin as referenced in Winter 2012

Emma with boxes of medical supplies received from donors overseas

We look back in humble amazement on this year of 2011, on the faithfulness and grace of our Lord in whose name we labor. This has been our sixth year of existence; how time speeds by! Our constant experience has been that our work and times have been kept carefully in our Lord’s hand. Many other projects and people have come and gone, however God has seen fit, for the present, to establish the work of our hands which is very much the work of His hand. By His sovereign grace we remain a place of light and hope in a very troubled and afflicted community.

When we started 2011 and the whole process of becoming our own independent ministry, the promise we leaned on was from Isaiah 30:15a … to quietly trust the Lord and see Him provide. We proceeded with much fear and trembling and with no money in our account. Yet it has been good for us to have to step out on this journey of trust. We are a real and tangible example of God’s sustaining and providing mercy. We can testify in both word and deed of His goodness as we continue to minister to the sick and suffering.

The medical and spiritual care of AIDS patients remains our primary focus of ministry.

We have had 530 patients pass through our hands since 2005 of whom around 30 percent have been helped to such an extent that they are back to normal functional life. Many have come to know the saving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, of death in Adam and life in Christ and continue to walk in His ways. Others have not responded in faith and we leave the results to God’s wisdom. Some of the means we use to do our work are very ordinary; for example, medication, vitamins, good nutrition, personal hygiene, sleep and rest. Other means are extraordinary and powerful as they are of the Lord, like prayer, explaining of Scripture, Biblical counsel, and singing. Some means are fun, like the art therapy sessions. Some means are human and humble; the tender kindness of our staff, their gentle words, their compassionate hearts and hands. All these serve to help those under our care.

A Group of Canadian visitors from the HRC sponsored and worked to erect a water tank stand for Nakekela 

As we have continued to care for others, the Lord has cared for us. Some of God’s means have been ordinary; for example, the financial aid from our donors, both Word & Deed (North America) and Die Verre Naasste (the Netherlands) which provide physical goods and products. Other means have been through foreign visitors and the labors they have done for us, from North America and the Netherlands, to local visitors which include government officials of high rank and even local school children that are neighbors. To us this is an affirmation and acceptance of our existence by the people of the local and international community. Some of God's extraordinary means have included answers to prayers in situations of impossibility, Scripture promises in dark hours, mutual encouragement by other believers, and much joy in our labor despite much sadness.

Thank you again, Word & Deed, for all the love and support and visits we have been recipients of in our many years of partnership for the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria.

Sonja Miskin oversees the medical department of the Nakekela Care Center, an AIDS hospice in rural KwaMhlanga, South Africa.